The European Commission’s proposal to impose new safeguard measures against steel imports is encouraging domestic mills to bring up prices to above €600/tonne ($696), despite sustained market weakness.
Most observers at Wednesday’s Blechexpo trade fair in Stuttgart said the safeguards and subsequent price hike attempts are not really spurring real demand. However, they acknowledged the necessity for mills to raise prices and want to believe an uptrend is possible. At least, “a slight upward price correction in the fourth quarter seems likely now that the market is finding more calm and confidence,” one Dutch manager told Kallanish during the event.
A German manager put a figure to it, saying mills would not release any more volumes of hot rolled coil in the fourth quarter for less than €600/t ex-works. It was suggested by some market participants last week that some residual volumes were still available for less, but that option seems to be exhausted now. He sees €600 as being a psychological mark that will not be undercut.
A Dutch buyer concurred, noting that “mills will actually try to get way more than €600”.
One mill group manager also put a clear figure to what his company is seeking to obtain in the first quarter of 2026. “We had left the market and did not make any offers for one week,” he said. “Now, we are asking for €640-650/t delivered, depending on the region and on the transport costs.”
While this is similar to the offers heard from another mill group, the German manager does not see a coordinated move by the mills, but rather believes price hikes were inevitable. “Prior to the Blechexpo, it was already a common assumption the fair would confirm the price hike efforts,” he concluded.
Christian Koehl Germany
